The content validity of the PSS in patients with plaque psoriasis

Defining disease severity in atopic dermatitis and psoriasis for the application to biomarker research: an interdisciplinary perspective

More severe atopic dermatitis and psoriasis are associated with a higher cumulative impact on quality of life, multimorbidity and healthcare costs. Proactive, early intervention in those most at risk of severe disease may reduce this cumulative burden and modify the disease trajectory to limit progression. The lack of reliable biomarkers for this at-risk group represents a barrier to such a paradigm shift in practice. To expedite discovery and validation, the BIOMarkers in Atopic Dermatitis and Psoriasis (BIOMAP) consortium (a large-scale European, interdisciplinary research initiative) has curated clinical and molecular data across diverse study designs and sources including cross-sectional and cohort studies (small-scale studies through to large multicentre registries), clinical trials, electronic health records and large-scale population-based biobanks. We map all dataset disease severity instruments and measures to three key domains (symptoms, inflammatory activity and disease course), and describe important codependencies and relationships across variables and domains. We prioritize definitions for more severe disease with reference to international consensus, reference standards and/or expert opinion. Key factors to consider when analysing datasets across these diverse study types include explicit early consideration of biomarker purpose and clinical context, candidate biomarkers associated with disease severity at a particular point in time and over time and how they are related, taking the stage of biomarker development into account when selecting disease severity measures for analyses, and validating biomarker associations with disease severity outcomes using both physician- and patient-reported measures and across domains. The outputs from this exercise will ensure coherence and focus across the BIOMAP consortium so that mechanistic insights and biomarkers are clinically relevant, patient-centric and more generalizable to current and future research efforts.

Evaluating the content validity of the Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation (SANE) in shoulder pathologies

BACKGROUND

The Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation (SANE) is a single item patient reported outcome measure (PROM) of function, in where patients rate how normal they feel in relation to a specific joint or problem. Although validated for some orthopedic conditions, it is not yet validated for a population with shoulder pathologies; nor have other studies explored the content validity. This study aims to understand how 1) patients with shoulder conditions interpret and calibrate responses to the SANE and 2) how they define normal.

METHODS

This study uses cognitive interviewing, a qualitative methodology that focuses on the interpretation of questionnaire items. Patients with rotator cuff disorders (n = 10), clinicians (n = 6) and measurement researchers (n = 10) were interviewed using a talk aloud structured interview that evaluated the SANE. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim by one researcher (R.F). Analysis was done through an open coding scheme using a previously established framework for classification of interpretation variances.

RESULTS

Overall, the single-item SANE was well received by all participants. Through the interviews, the themes of: Comprehension (20% of participants), Reference Point (20% of participants), Relevance (10% of participants), and Perspective Modifiers (50% of participants) emerged as potential sources of interpretation variances. Clinicians indicated this tool facilitates discussion when trying to create realistic recovery expectations for patients post-operatively. The word "normal" was defined by the themes of: 1) levels of current pain compared to pre-injury, 2) personal expectations of recovery and 3) pre-injury activity levels.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, respondents found the SANE to be cognitively simple, but it was clear that the interpretation of the question and what factors calibrated their responses were highly variable between respondents. The SANE is perceived favorable by patients and clinicians, while providing a low response burden. However, the construct being measured may vary between patients.

Symptom Experience and Content Validity of the Psoriasis Symptom Scale (PSS) in Patients with Generalized Pustular Psoriasis (GPP)

Introduction

We sought to understand key symptoms of generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) and to confirm the relevance to patients and content validity of the Psoriasis Symptom Scale (PSS) in GPP.

Methods

A targeted literature review and clinical expert interviews were conducted as background research. Patients were interviewed individually (involving concept elicitation and cognitive interviews), and a separate patient workshop was conducted to determine disease-specific symptoms of importance.

Results

Seven participants with moderate (n = 4), severe (n = 2), and mild (n = 1) GPP and clinician diagnosis were interviewed. During concept elicitation, all participants indicated that pustules may underlie other symptoms. Symptoms reported by all patients were pain, redness, itch, burning, and discomfort. The PSS symptoms of pain, itching, burning, and redness were reported by ≥ 86% of patients as most frequently experienced. Upon debriefing, the PSS was well understood. Relevance and importance of these symptoms was confirmed in the GPP patient workshop.

Conclusion

Participant feedback found the PSS measure to be relevant and easy to understand. The symptoms included in the instrument, pain, redness, itch, and burning, were most frequently reported, important, and well understood by patients. Study results provided support for the content validity of the PSS for use as endpoints in GPP clinical trials.

Generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) is a severe rare disease, including redness and boils that sometimes come with fever and other general symptoms. This study asked patients with GPP about their key symptoms, and whether the Psoriasis Symptom Scale (PSS) is relevant to them as patients. The PSS is a questionnaire with the symptoms pain, itching, burning, and redness. We searched the literature and interviewed clinical experts to guide the patient interviews. Patients were recruited through clinical sites and the National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF). The interviews discussed GPP symptoms and the PSS questionnaire. Patients with GPP were also asked about commonly experienced symptoms in a workshop. Most patients had moderate to severe GPP. Patients in both the interviews and workshop described experiencing pain, redness, itch, burning, and discomfort with their boils. During interviews, the patients said the PSS questionnaire was easy to understand. Patients in the workshop also found the PSS to be relevant and easy to understand. Patients agreed the symptoms in the PSS, pain, redness, itch, and burning, were common and important. Study results support the PSS for use with patients in clinical trials.

Probiotic supplementation improves clinical outcomes and quality of life indicators in patients with plaque psoriasis: A randomized double-blind clinical trial

BACKGROUND & AIMS

The impact of probiotics on psoriasis, a systemic inflammatory disease, remains obscure, thus we decided to evaluate quality of life (QOL), oxidative stress, inflammatory markers and clinical outcome in psoriasis patients.

METHODS

Fifty patients with plaque psoriasis randomized into two groups, group 1 received probiotic drink with Lactobacillus strains for 8 weeks while group 2 haven't received any probiotic supplements at this period. The Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and Beck's questionnaire (BDI) were used to investigate the quality of life and depression, respectively. The effects of supplementation on malondialdehyde (MDA), hs-CRP, IL-6, total antioxidant capacity (1) and psoriasis area and severity index (PASI), psoriasis symptom scale (PSS) were measured at the beginning of the study and after week 8th.

RESULTS

Total BDI scores significantly improved in the probiotic group in comparison with the placebo group (-6.15 ± 2.10 vs. 1.39 ± 1.80, P = 0.017) and DLQI (-9.50 ± 4.1 vs. 0.12 ± 0.6, P = 0.045) as well. Group 1 had a considerable reduction in PASI and PSS scores compared to the placebo group (-5.26 ± 3.75 vs. 0.48 ± 1.37, P = 0.049) and (-4.85 ± 3.10 vs. 0.43 ± 0.80, P = 0.047), respectively. In addition, the intervention group have shown increase in TAC levels (45.99 ± 23.33 vs -13.54 ± 30.7 mmol/L, P = 0.030), and decrease in hs-CRP levels (-1.55 ± 0.85 vs. -0.49 + 0.27 mg/L, P = 0.015), IL-6 levels (-4.04 ± 1.30 vs. -1.50 + 0.38 mg/L, P = 0.050) and MDA levels (-71.08 ± 35.73 vs. -9.8 + 15.6 nmol/mL, P = 0.013) compared to the placebo group.

CONCLUSIONS

Probiotics improve patients' quality of life and inflammatory biomarkers in psoriatic patients. Further studies are mandatory to propose probiotics as routinely prescribed therapy in inflammatory dermatoses.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

This trial was registered at www.irct.ir as IRCT20180712040438N2.

Psychometric Validation of the Psoriasis Symptoms and Impacts Measure (P-SIM): A Novel Patient-Reported Outcome Instrument for Patients with Plaque Psoriasis, Using Reported Data from the BE RADIANT Phase 3b Trial

Introduction

This analysis assessed the psychometric properties of the Psoriasis Symptoms and Impacts Measure (P-SIM), a novel patient-reported outcome (PRO) tool designed to capture patient experiences of the signs, symptoms and impacts of psoriasis.

Methods

Blinded data from the BE RADIANT phase 3b trial of bimekizumab were analysed. In BE RADIANT, patients were randomised 1:1 to bimekizumab 320 mg every 4 weeks (Q4W) or secukinumab 300 mg (weekly until Week 4, then Q4W). Three items (itching, skin pain and scaling) of the P-SIM were electronically assessed throughout the trial and were scored from 0 to 10 (none to very severe signs/symptoms/impacts). Test–retest reliability was determined using intraclass correlations. Convergent validity was assessed between P-SIM and other relevant PRO and clinician-reported outcome (ClinRO) scores. Known-groups validity was assessed by comparing mean P-SIM item scores between patient subgroups based on the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI)/Investigator’s Global Assessment (IGA) scores. Responsiveness was assessed via correlations between changes from baseline in P-SIM item scores and other relevant PRO and ClinRO scores. Anchor-based responder analyses and empirical cumulative distribution function (eCDF) curves determined responder thresholds.

Results

The three P-SIM items yielded high intraclass coefficients (> 0.70). By Week 48, the three P-SIM items had moderate (> 0.30 and ≤ 0.50) to strong (> 0.50) correlations with other PROs and weaker correlations with ClinROs, demonstrating good convergent validity. For almost all known-group comparisons, statistically significant between-subgroup score differences were seen across all three P-SIM items. Changes from baseline in the P-SIM and other relevant outcomes were above the acceptable threshold of ≤ 0.30, demonstrating sensitivity to change. Anchor-based analyses determined a ≥ four-point reduction from baseline to indicate marked clinically meaningful improvement for the P-SIM.

Conclusion

These results support the validity, reliability and sensitivity to change of the P-SIM in assessing key symptoms (itching, skin pain and scaling) in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

Trial registration

NCT03536884.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12325-021-01836-1.

Psychometric Validation of the Psoriasis Symptoms and Impacts Measure (P-SIM), a Novel Patient-Reported Outcome Instrument for Patients with Plaque Psoriasis, Using Data from the BE VIVID and BE READY Phase 3 Trials

INTRODUCTION

Plaque psoriasis can significantly impact patients' quality of life. We assessed psychometric properties of the Psoriasis Symptoms and Impacts Measure (P-SIM), developed to capture patients' experiences of signs, symptoms and impacts of psoriasis.

METHODS

Pooled, blinded, 16-week data from 1002 patients in the BE VIVID and BE READY bimekizumab phase 3 trials were analysed. The suitability of the P-SIM missing score rule (weekly scores considered missing if ≥ 4 daily scores were missing) was assessed. Test-retest reliability was evaluated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). Convergent validity was assessed between P-SIM and relevant patient-reported outcome (PRO) (Dermatology Life Quality Index [DLQI], DLQI item 1 [skin symptoms], Patient Global Assessment of Psoriasis) and clinician-reported outcome (ClinRO) scores (Psoriasis Area and Severity Index [PASI], Investigator's Global Assessment [IGA]) at baseline and week 16. Known-groups validity was assessed, comparing P-SIM scores between patient subgroups predefined using PASI/IGA scores. Sensitivity to change over 16 weeks was evaluated; responder definition (RD) thresholds were explored.

RESULTS

The missing score rule used did not impact P-SIM scores. Test-retest reliability analyses demonstrated excellent score reproducibility (ICC 0.91-0.98). Inter-item correlations at baseline and week 16 were strong (> 0.5), apart from "choice of clothing" with "skin pain" and "burning" at baseline (both 0.49). All P-SIM scores were moderately to strongly correlated with other outcomes, demonstrating convergent validity, apart from ClinROs (PASI, IGA) at baseline that had low variability. P-SIM scores discriminated known groups at week 16, confirming known-groups validity. Changes from baseline to week 16 in P-SIM and other clinically relevant outcomes were strongly correlated (> 0.5; weaker with ClinROs), establishing sensitivity to change. Anchor-based RD analyses determined a four-point P-SIM item score decrease as indicative of marked clinically meaningful improvement.

CONCLUSION

P-SIM scores demonstrated good reliability, validity and sensitivity to change. A four-point RD threshold could be used to assess 16-week treatment effects.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

BE VIVID: NCT03370133; BE READY: NCT03410992.

Effect of Risankizumab on Patient-Reported Outcomes in Moderate to Severe Psoriasis: The UltIMMa-1 and UltIMMa-2 Randomized Clinical Trials

Question

What are the patient-reported outcomes of risankizumab treatment for moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis in UltIMMa-1 and UltIMMa-2?

Findings

Data from 997 patients who were randomized 3:1:1 to risankizumab, ustekinumab, and placebo in 2 replicate 52-week clinical trials showed a superior and statistically significant effect of risankizumab compared with placebo and ustekinumab in relieving and eliminating plaque psoriasis symptoms, improving health-related quality of life, and reducing psychological distress, with both a quick onset and sustaining of benefits over the long term.

Meaning

Risankizumab is an efficacious novel biologic treatment with meaningful improvements in symptoms, mental health, and quality of life for patients with psoriasis.

Importance

Demonstrating the value of therapies from a patient’s perspective is increasingly important for patient-centered care.

Objective

To compare patient-reported outcomes (PROs) with risankizumab vs ustekinumab and placebo in psoriasis symptoms, health-related quality of life (HRQL), and mental health among patients with moderate to severe psoriasis.

Design, Setting, and Participants

The UltIMMa-1 and UltIMMa-2 studies were replicate 52-week phase 3, randomized, multisite, double-blind, placebo-controlled and active comparator-controlled trials conducted in 139 sites (including hospitals, academic medical centers, clinical research units, and private practices) globally in Asia-Pacific, Japan, Europe, and North America. Adults (≥18 years) with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis with body surface area (BSA) involvement of 10% or more, Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) scores of 12 or higher, and static Physician’s Global Assessment (sPGA) scores of 3 or higher were included.

Interventions

In each trial, patients were randomly assigned (3:1:1) to 150 mg of risankizumab, 45 mg or 90 mg of ustekinumab (weight-based per label) for 52 weeks, or matching placebo for 16 weeks followed by risankizumab.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Integrated data from 2 trials were used to compare Psoriasis Symptom Scale (PSS) (total score and item scores for pain, redness, itchiness, and burning), Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), 5-level EuroQoL-5D (EQ-5D-5L), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), at baseline, week 16, and week 52.

Results

A total of 997 patients with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis were analyzed. Across all arms, the mean age was 47.2 to 47.8 years and 68.3% (136/199 for ustekinumab) to 73.0% (146/200 for placebo) were men. Patients’ characteristics and PROs were comparable across all treatment arms at baseline (n = 598, 199, 200 for risankizumab, ustekinumab, and placebo, respectively). At week 16, a significantly greater proportion of patients treated with risankizumab than those treated with ustekinumab or placebo achieved PSS = 0, indicating no psoriasis symptoms (30.3% [181/598], 15.1% [30/199], 1.0% [2/200], both P < .001), and DLQI = 0 or 1 indicating no impact on skin-related HRQL (66.2%, 44.7%, 6.0%, P < .001). Significantly greater proportions of patients treated with risankizumab achieved minimally clinically important difference (MCID) than ustekinumab or placebo for DLQI (94.5% [516/546], 85.1% [149/175], 35.6% [64/180]; both P < .001), EQ-5D-5L (41.7% [249/597] vs 31.5% [62/197], P = .01; vs 19.0% [38/200], P < .001), and HADS (anxiety: 69.1% [381/551] vs 57.1% [104/182], P = .004; vs 35.9% [66/184], P < .001; depression: 71.1% [354/598] vs 60.4% [96/159], P = .01; vs 37.1% [59/159], P < .001). At week 52, improvements in patients treated with risankizumab compared with those treated with ustekinumab were sustained for PSS, DLQI, and EQ-5D-5L.

Conclusions and Relevance

Risankizumab significantly improved symptoms of moderate to severe psoriasis, improved HRQL, and reduced psychological distress compared with ustekinumab or placebo.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifiers: NCT02684370 (UltIMMa-1) and NCT02684357 (UltIMMa-2)

Development and Content Validation of the Psoriasis Symptoms and Impacts Measure (P-SIM) for Assessment of Plaque Psoriasis

Introduction

Patients with plaque psoriasis experience a variety of signs and symptoms that can impact daily life, which may not be evaluated by clinician-reported outcomes. This study aimed to develop and assess the content validity of a new patient-reported outcome (PRO) measure to capture patient experiences of the signs, symptoms and impacts of psoriasis and aid integration of the patient perspective in treatment benefit-risk decision-making.

Methods

The psoriasis symptoms and impacts measure (P-SIM) was developed based on a literature search and interviews with five clinical experts in psoriasis to identify frequent signs, symptoms and impacts of psoriasis. Hybrid concept elicitation, cognitive debriefing and usability testing interviews were conducted with moderate to severe psoriasis patients to evaluate the content validity and patient understanding of the preliminary P-SIM. The preliminary P-SIM was refined using initial quantitative analyses of phase 2b data from psoriasis patients to inform the removal of any items.

Results

A preliminary 19-item P-SIM was developed for administration on a hand-held electronic tablet device using a 0–10 numerical response scale over a 24-h recall period. Patient interviews and testing demonstrated most patients interpreted the items and responses as intended, would not re-word any items, felt the responses matched the items and rated the device as easy to use. After quantitative testing, five items were removed from the preliminary 19-item measure because of conceptual overlap, floor effects and/or skewed distributions to generate the final 14-item P-SIM.

Conclusions

The P-SIM questionnaire has good content validity; patients reported it was easy to understand and reflective of their experiences. Following psychometric validation, the P-SIM may be a useful PRO measure for capturing the signs, symptoms and impacts of psoriasis and may support clinician-reported outcomes when assessing treatment benefits in clinical trials.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1007/s13555-020-00434-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Interpretation and content validity of the items of the numeric rating version short-WORC to evaluate outcomes in management of rotator cuff pathology: a cognitive interview approach

BACKGROUND

The shortened version of the Western Ontario Rotator Cuff Index (Short-WORC) is a patient reported outcome measure that evaluates quality of life (QoL) of patients with rotator cuff pathology. However, formal content validation of the full or Short-WORC has not been reported. This study aims to understand how 1) people interpret and calibrate responses to items on the Short-WORC and 2) compensatory strategies that might enhance function and thereby affect responses.

METHODS

This study uses cognitive interviewing, a qualitative methodology that focuses on the interpretation of questionnaire items. Patients with rotator cuff disorders (n = 10), clinicians (n = 6) and measurement researchers (n = 10) were interviewed using a talk aloud structured interview that evaluated each of the 7 items of the Short-WORC. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim by one researcher (R.F). Analysis was done through an open coding scheme using a previously established framework.

RESULTS

Overall, the items on the Short-WORC were well received by participants. Through the interviews, the 6 themes of: Comprehension, Inadequate response definition, Reference Point, Relevance, Perspective Modifiers and Calibration Across Items emerged. The items of working above the shoulder (90%), compensating with the unaffected arm (88%) and lifting heavy objects (92%) were the most relevant to participants. Participants calibrated their scores on the items of sleeping and styling (19%) the most. Perspective modifiers of gender, influenced the calibrations of items of styling your hair (30%) and dressing or undressing (19%). Compensatory strategies of task-re allocation and using assistive devices/resources were frequently mentioned by participants. Overall, participants had minor comprehension issues, but found the 7- items of the Short-WORC to be relevant to QoL.

CONCLUSIONS

Therefore, the findings demonstrate that the Short-WORC is not cognitively complex, but varies with patient perspectives. Overall, the Short-WORC provides evidence of demonstrating strong content validity when used for rotator cuff disorder patients.

Reliability, validity, and the ability to detect change of the Psoriasis Symptom Scale (PSS) in patients with plaque psoriasis

Introduction: The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the measurement properties of the patient-reported four-item Psoriasis Symptom Scale (PSS).Methods: Analysis of phase-III data on the efficacy of risankizumab to assess psychometric characteristics of the PSS in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis.Results: PSS items had a good range of symptom severity coverage. The PSS had good test-retest reliability (ICCs >0.90). Convergent and discriminant validity was indicated by moderate-to-strong correlations between the PSS and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), PSS pain item and EQ-5D pain/discomfort item at week 12 (0.63), and moderate negative correlation with EQ-Visual Analog Scale score at week 12 (-0.37). Known groups validity demonstrated as mean PSS total scores varied by Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) and Static Physician's Global Assessment (sPGA) defined groups (p < .0001). PSS total scores were responsive to changes in PASI score (p < .0001) and sPGA (p < .0001). PSS minimal, clinical, and meaningful change is estimated to be 1 to 2 points; a preliminary responder definition is a total change score of 3 to 4 points.Conclusions: The PSS is a short, valid unidimensional measure of psoriasis symptom severity, well suited for use in clinical trials.

Efficacy and safety of risankizumab in moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis (UltIMMa-1 and UltIMMa-2): results from two double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled and ustekinumab-controlled phase 3 trials

BACKGROUND

Risankizumab is a humanised IgG1 monoclonal antibody that binds to the p19 subunit of interleukin-23, inhibiting this key cytokine and its role in psoriatic inflammation. We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of risankizumab compared with placebo or ustekinumab in patients with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis.

METHODS

UltIMMa-1 and UltIMMa-2 were replicate phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled and active comparator-controlled trials done at 139 sites in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, and the USA. Eligible patients were 18 years or older, with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis. In each study, patients were stratified by weight and previous exposure to tumour necrosis factor inhibitor and randomly assigned (3:1:1) by use of interactive response technology to receive 150 mg risankizumab, 45 mg or 90 mg ustekinumab (weight-based per label), or placebo. Following the 16-week double-blind treatment period (part A), patients initially assigned to placebo switched to 150 mg risankizumab at week 16; other patients continued their originally randomised treatment (part B, double-blind, weeks 16-52). Study drug was administered subcutaneously at weeks 0 and 4 during part A and at weeks 16, 28, and 40 during part B. Co-primary endpoints were proportions of patients achieving a 90% improvement in the Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI 90) and a static Physician's Global Assessment (sPGA) score of 0 or 1 at week 16 (non-responder imputation). All efficacy analyses were done in the intention-to-treat population. These trials are registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, numbers NCT02684370 (UltIMMa-1) and NCT02684357 (UltIMMa-2), and have been completed.

FINDINGS

Between Feb 24, 2016, and Aug 31, 2016, 506 patients in UltIMMa-1 were randomly assigned to receive 150 mg risankizumab (n=304), 45 mg or 90 mg ustekinumab (n=100), or placebo (n=102). Between March 1, 2016, and Aug 30, 2016, 491 patients in UltIMMa-2 were randomly assigned to receive 150 mg risankizumab (n=294), 45 mg or 90 mg ustekinumab (n=99), or placebo (n=98). Co-primary endpoints were met for both studies. At week 16 of UltIMMa-1, PASI 90 was achieved by 229 (75·3%) patients receiving risankizumab versus five (4·9%) receiving placebo (placebo-adjusted difference 70·3% [95% CI 64·0-76·7]) and 42 (42·0%) receiving ustekinumab (ustekinumab-adjusted difference 33·5% [22·7-44·3]; p<0·0001 vs placebo and ustekinumab). At week 16 of UltIMMa-2, PASI 90 was achieved by 220 (74·8%) patients receiving risankizumab versus two (2·0%) receiving placebo (placebo-adjusted difference 72·5% [95% CI 66·8-78·2]) and 47 (47·5%) receiving ustekinumab (ustekinumab-adjusted difference 27·6% [16·7-38·5]; p<0·0001 vs placebo and ustekinumab). In UltIMMa-1, sPGA 0 or 1 at week 16 was achieved by 267 (87·8%) patients receiving risankizumab versus eight (7·8%) receiving placebo (placebo-adjusted difference 79·9% [95% CI 73·5-86·3]) and 63 (63·0%) receiving ustekinumab (ustekinumab-adjusted difference 25·1% [15·2-35·0]; p<0·0001 vs placebo and ustekinumab). In UltIMMa-2, 246 (83·7%) patients receiving risankizumab versus five (5·1%) receiving placebo (placebo-adjusted difference 78·5% [95% CI 72·4-84·5]) and 61 (61·6%) receiving ustekinumab achieved sPGA 0 or 1 at week 16 (ustekinumab-adjusted difference 22·3% [12·0-32·5]; p<0·0001 vs placebo and ustekinumab). The frequency of treatment-emergent adverse events in UltIMMa-1 and UltIMMa-2 was similar across risankizumab (part A: 151 [49·7%] of 304 and 134 [45·6%] of 294; part B: 182 [61·3%] of 297 and 162 [55·7%] of 291), placebo (part A: 52 [51·0%] of 102 and 45 [45·9%] of 98), ustekinumab (part A: 50 [50·0%] of 100 and 53 [53·5%] of 99; part B: 66 [66·7%] of 99 and 70 [74·5%] of 94), and placebo to risankizumab (part B: 65 [67·0%] of 97 and 61 [64·9%] of 94) treatment groups throughout the study duration.

INTERPRETATION

Risankizumab showed superior efficacy to both placebo and ustekinumab in the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Treatment-emergent adverse event profiles were similar across treatment groups and there were no unexpected safety findings.

FUNDING

AbbVie and Boehringer Ingelheim.